Health Library

Delayed Toilet Training

Children are toilet training at a later age than they did 50 years ago, researchers say. In a study in the Journal of Pediatrics in 2004, researchers found that only 40 to 60 percent of children today complete toilet training by age 3. In the 1950s, more than 97 percent of children were toilet trained by that age. A later age for toilet training may boost the risk for spreading infectious diseases such as diarrhea and hepatitis A in day-care settings.